Cleaning nozzle



Nov. 30, 1965 c. HARRINGTON, SR 3,220,042

' CLEANING NOZZLE Filed 001;. 28, 1963 INVENTOR.

FRANCIS C. HARRINGTON 31:

M ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,220,042 CLEANING NOZZLE Francis C. Harrington, Sr., 2244 Tittabawassee Road, Saginaw, Mich. Filed Oct. 28, 1963, Ser. No. 319,157 2 Claims. (Cl. 15--325) This invention relates to cleaning apparatus and more particularly to apparatus for cleaning hot water radiators of the baseboard radiant heat type.

Modern hot water heating systems for domestic use comprise a boiler from which hot water pipes extend throughout the building and back to the boiler for circulating hot water through the building. The pipes that extend into a room conventionally are located adjacent the floor at about baseboard height and are provided with longitudinally spaced fins for radiating heat into the room. The pipes and fins are rather unsightly and ordinarily are covered by a walled member which, together with the adjacent room wall, forms a housing in which the pipe and fins are enclosed. The housing customarily is provided with longitudinally extending openings through which air currents may circulate by convection to heat the room.

Over a period of time, dust and lint will enter the radiator housing through the convection openings and will settle on the fins and water pipe. Over an extended period of time, a layer of dust and lint of such thickness will be deposited on the fins and pipe as to curtail considerably the heat exchange efiiciency of the fins, thereby materially decreasing the heating capacity of the system and adding to the fuel costs. If the dust and lint are not removed from the pipe and fins at fairly frequent intervals, the deposits have a tendency to adhere to the pipe and fins with such tenacity as to make it virtually impossible to remove such deposits without scraping the fins and pipe.

An object of the invention is to provide radiator cleanting apparatus which is particularly adapted for use in cleaning baseboard radiant heat units.

Another object of the invention is to provide radiator cleaning apparatus that is adapted for use in conjunction with conventional vacuum cleaners and which may be utilized in conjunction with the attachments provided with such cleaners.

A further object of the invention is to provide base- 'board heating duct cleaning apparatus which is equipped \vith means for preventing marring of the finish of the ucts.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be pointed out specifically or will become apparent from the following description when it is considered in conjunction with the appended claims and the accompanying drawing, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a fragmentary, partly elevational and partly sectional view of apparatus constructed in accordance with the invention and illustrating the manner in which the apparatus may be used;

FIGURE 2 is a top plan view of a part of the apparatus; and

FIGURE 3 is a sectional View taken on the line 33 of FIGURE 2.

Apparatus constructed in accordance with the invention is adapted for use in conjunction with a vacuum cleaner 1 of conventional construction and having a case 2 within which is a motor driven blower fan 3 that is adapted to be driven in such direction as to cause an air stream to move through the case in a direction from right to left, as viewed in FIGURE 1. At one end of the case is a bell housing 4 that is removably secured to the case by means of a coupling ring 5. Within the case and secured in place by the ring 5 is a filter bag 6 formed of "ice porous material which will trap dust and lint, but which will permit the passage of air through the container. At the other end of the case 2 is another bell housing 7 to which may be attached a flexible hose 8 for conducting air circulated through the case to a selected point of discharge. A tubular attachment 8a of known construction may be secured to the free end of the hose 8 for directing the discharged air. A similar flexible hose 9 is connected to the bell housing 4 to deliver air to the interior of the case.

In FIGURE 1 there is fragmentarily disclosed a portion of a room having a floor 10 and an upstanding wall 11. Secured to the floor or to the wall is a longitudinally extending, tubular pipe 12 through which hot water may circulate from and to a boiler (not shown). At closely spaced intervals along the length of the pipe 12 are plates or fins 13 which extract heat from the water running through the pipe and become hot. Over the pipe and fins is a sheet metal member having a vertical wall 14 and a top wall 15, the walls 14 and 15 forming with the floor 10 and the wall 11 a housing 16 enclosing the pipe and fins. In order to permit convection currents to circulate through the housing, a longitudinally extending opening 17 is provided in the upper wall of the housing, and a longitudinally extending opening 18 is formed in the wall 14 below the opening 17 and adjacent the floor 10.

The apparatus described thus far is conventional and forms not part of the invention except insofar as it cooperates with the apparatus yet to be described.

The cleaning apparatus constructed in accordance with the invention comprises a hollow housing member 19 having spaced apart upper and lower walls 20 and 21, respectively, between which are side walls 22. The side walls converge to an apex at one end of the housing .19 so that the latter presents, in plan, a substantially triangular appearance. The apex of the triangle is provided with an opening to which is fixed a cylindrical tube 23 that is adapted removably to be secured to a coupling 24 provided at the free end of the hose 9. The side of the housing 19 opposite the apex is open.

The bottom wall 21 of the housing 19 extends beyond the upper wall 20 at the open side of the housing, and the upper wall 20 is provided with a downwardly stepped portion 25 adjacent the open side of the housing. Secured to the stepped portion 25 by adhesive or the like is a soft rubber bumper 26 to prevent marring of the housing wall 14, the height of the bumper being such that it terminates substantially flush with the upper surface of the top 'wall 20. The side walls 22 are coextensive in length with the bottom wall 21, but are of such height forwardly of the open side of the housing as to be capable of entering the openings 18 without interference.

In the operation of the apparatus, the free end of the hose 8 may be inserted in the housing '16 through the opening 17, and the member 19 inserted in the housing 16 through the opening \18 and in such position that the coupling 24 is in substantially vertical alignment with the tube 8a. The blower fan of the vacuum cleaner 1 then may be started so as to cause a stream of air to circulate in the direction shown by the arrows in FIGURE 1. As the stream of air leaves the free end of the hose 8, it passes over and around the pipe '12 and the fins 13, entraining particles of dust and lint, and then enters the open side of the housing 19, which is directly below the discharge end of the hose 8. The air stream, together with the entrained dust and lint particles, is introduced to the casing 1 where the air passes through the filter bag 6 which catches the dust and lint particles. The filtered air then recirculate-s in the same manner.

The hose 8 and the member 19 may be moved longi tudinally of the openings 17 and 18 so as to traverse the a length of the housing 16. By moving the members 8:: and 19 simultaneously so as to maintain them in substantially vertical alignment, the blowing of dust and lint through the openings 17 and 18 into the room will be avoided.

The disclosed apparatus is representative of the invention, but are intended to be illustrative rather than definitive thereof. The invention is defined in the claims.

I claim:

1. A pneumatic cleaning utensil comprising a flat, gennerally triangular, hollow housing having substantially parallel, spaced apart top and bottom walls and side walls therebet-ween converging to an apex, the side of said housing opposite said apex being open, said housing having an opening betweensaid top and bottom walls at said 15 apex, the bottom wall of said housing extending beyond the top wall thereof at said open side, and said side walls being coextensive in length with said bottom wall; and tubular means joined to said housing at said apex and being in communication with the interior of said housing.

2. The construction set forth in claim 1 wherein said top wall has a downwardly stepped portion adjacent said open side, and including a resilient bumper member supported on said stepped portion and extending to a level substantially flush with the level of the remainingportion of said top wall.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 956,451 4/1910 Thurman 15-345 1,620,390 3/1927 Peters 15-346 2,226,630 12/1940 McCord.

FOREIGN PATENTS 690,185 6/1930 France.

WALTER A. SCHEEL, Primary Examiner. 

1. A PNEUMATIC CLEANING UTENSIL COMPRISING A FLAT, GENNERALLY TRIANGULAR, HOLLOW HOUSING HAVING SUBSTANTIALLY PARALLE, SPACED APART TOP AND BOTTOM WALLS AND SIDE WALLS THEREBETWEEN CONVERGING TO AN APEX, THE SIDE OF SAID HOUSING OPPOSITE SAID APEX BEING OPEN, SAID HOUSING HAVING AN OPENING BETWEEN SAID TOP AND BOTTOM WALLS AT SAID APEX, THE BOTTOM WALL OF SAID HOUSING EXTENDING BEYOND THE TOP WALL THEREOF AT SAID OPEN SIDE, AND SAID SIDE WALLS BEING COEXTENSIVE IN LENGTH WITH SAID BOTTOM WALL; AND TUBULAR MEANS JOINED TO SAID HOUSING AT SAID APEX AND BEING IN COMMUNICATION WITH THE INTERIOR OF SAID HOUSING. 